The New Mexico Exploring the Jewish Experience Course (EJE), 2026

A Program of Shabbat with Friends New Mexico 

The New Mexico Exploring the Jewish Experience (EJE) Course is a holistic course exploring the Jewish experience through its history, religious ideas, culture, and practices. More than a simplistic introduction, this course offers depth and insight into one of the oldest and enduring communities in our world today. The course will be offered online and will feature an interactive format to promote discussion during course sessions.   

Key Features of the Course 

1. EJE explores difficult contemporary questions such as the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora, the history and impact of Anti-Semitism, and the recent emergence of Anti-Zionism amongst non-Jews and some Jews.   

2. EJE is open to all ages and backgrounds—Jewish, non-Jewish, intercultural couples, and anyone curious about Judaism.  

3. EJE is taught by New Mexican Rabbis and Jewish educators. The course is pluralistic in its approach to the Jewish experience, honoring diverse Jewish expressions from religious to secular, between Sephardic and Ashkenazic views of tradition, and the competing movements within the Jewish world.  Since there are many paths to transcendence, our teachers are careful not to proselytize our participants in any way.  

4. The course may be taken to fulfill the requirement of a year of Jewish learning for prospective Jews by Choice. However, our aim: To provide Jewish participants a more complex understanding of their heritage and to give to participants coming from other faiths and cultures an appreciation of the Jewish experience. We seek to diminish common misunderstandings about Jews and Judaism.  Those interested in conversion may use the course to fulfill study prerequisites for becoming a Jew-by-Choice.   

The 2026 course is divided into 3 seasonal semesters  

• Winter 2026. Subject: Mitzvot and Maasim Tovim. The Jewish Way of Life 10 Sessions Tuesday Evenings 7-8:30pm , January 20 to March 24, 2026.  

• Spring 2026. Subject: Am Yisrael History of the Jewish People.  10 Sessions Tuesday Evenings 7-8:30pm , April 14 to June, 16.  

• Fall 2026. Subject:  Torah Given Sinai. 10 Illustrative Texts of Core Jewish ideas. 10 Sessions, Tuesday Evenings 7-8:30pm. September 8-November 11, 2026.  

Registration and Tuition 

Registration for the Winter 2026 semester will run from 12/1/25 until 2/1/25. Participants can sign up before each semester or register for the full year.   

Tuition per Semester.  $72 

Tuition for all three semesters in 2026: $180. A discount of $36.   

Financial aid for tuition is available on request.   

For questions about the course, please contact the Head Teacher, Rabbi Dov Gartenberg by writing to dov@shabbatwithfriends.org.  

 The Course is Offered by 

The 2026 EJE Course is a program of Shabbat with Friends New Mexico. EJE is an affiliate of the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. The 2026 EJE Course is also sponsored by HaMakom, Santa Fe, and the Los Alamos Jewish Center. The EJE Course is the recipient partially subsidized by a grant from the National Center to Encourage Judaism. 

Rabbi Dov Gartenberg

Email: dov@shabbatwithfriends.org

Website: https://shabbatwithfriends.org

POSTNET 1704 Llano St. Suite B, PMB 1164, Santa Fe, NM, 87505

Payment by Check: Please make your check payable to Shabbat with Friends NM. Please write in the memo, "EJE Course Tuition" You may send tuition payment by check to this address Shabbat with Friends NM POSTNET 1704 Llano St. Suite B, PMB 1164, Santa Fe, NM, 87505